Author: Richard

first apple harvest

My Pristine apple tree is the first to ripen in my orchard and each day drops many apples.  In Atlanta and northwest Georgia we have had record making rains, so the apples are relatively large, very juicy and, for the Pristine, relatively sweet. I do not spray so, inevitably, there are occasional visitors but these are easily removed with my pocket knife as I gorge away.   Nice thing about not spraying is I don't wash my fruit and I eat the skin. Since there are too many apples for consumption Read more [...]

goodbye Red

I inherited Red from departing neighbors.  She had been rescued from a commercial hatchery and came with a snipped beak.  She was the smartest of them all.  In the early days I borrowed her and some of her companions to help prepare the vegetable growing area and she would hover close to my digging implements to examine and gulp down whatever edibles I unearthed - whilst the other chicken stayed as far away from me as possible.  And when she and the others were given to me, it was Red who first Read more [...]

bluetooth & my basic truck

I have a base model Toyota Tacoma 2005 pickup (base means manual shift, windup windows and small but efficient engine) which came with a simple radio and CD player.  The challenge for me has always been playing podcasts (especially during the NPR fundraising season - 4 weeks a year).  I have downloaded my podcasts via my computer to MP3 players and then connected them to a  speaker which I have jammed between my shoulder and ear as I drove along.  Pretty basic, distracting and difficult to adjust Read more [...]

mullein is an unusual plant

The Permies permaculture website recommended mullein.  So last year I bought seeds of 3 varieties and grew them.  In their first year they are low lying with large very soft leaves.  The leaves can be used for various purposes and apparently the plant has some medicinal uses.  But they appeared to contribute little to my vegetable garden.  Unlike comfrey (one of my favorites which sends its roots deep to mine nutrients) the mullein roots run horizontal and suck the nutrients out of the adjoining Read more [...]

new camera old lens (continued)

In my previous post I mentioned the challenges of crisp focusing, the flatness produced by the flash directly above the camera (it should be to the side), camera shake and the need for a tripod.  I discovered among our possessions an old tripod (a Velbon VE-3, >30 years old) and today I returned to the field.  When using a macro lens the slightest jarring of the body blurs the image.  One answer could be to increase the speed of the shutter.  But then less light reaches the sensor.  So I Read more [...]

new camera and old lens

I have taken photographs since I was a kid.  Initially with a box camera, then my Dad's Zeiss Ikon f2.8 bellows camera, then a single lens reflex and then most recently for this website a Canon PowerShot SD1100.  The PowerShot has been fine but it has limitations for good close up pictures.  I recently found a boxed assortment of Pentax lenses, one of which is an Asahi SMC Macro Takumar f4 100mm, which is about 40 years old.  This lens should be great for close ups I thought, so why not pair Read more [...]

my new hand sickle

The winter rye is tall and surrounds and shades my berry plants. Now it is summer the winter rye is drying out and will soon drop its seed.  I like the wilderness of this luscious growth and see no point in cutting it down, except where it dwarfs my plantings.  It is shallow rooted and after a rain comes easily out of the ground, but that leaves an open spot quickly invaded by weeds and Bermuda grass.  For clearing the rye away from my plantings my large scythe is ill suited since it requires Read more [...]

planting out the tomatoes

My main ritual early each summer is the planting out of the tomatoes.  I grow these from seed, initially in the basement (0.75" soil blocks) then in the greenhouse (2" soil blocks).  My first year was a glorious year, since then hard going.  Not beginner's luck but a case of slipping under the radar the first time.  Now each year the pests and problems await me.  Though I rotate the growing site, this does not thwart the soil borne diseases - there is an interesting piece in this morning's NYT Read more [...]

shading the PawPaw

Last September I purchased two PawPaw trees from HiddenSprings Nursery - a Mango and an Overleese.  Initially I planted them in an extended area of my new orchard but when a sickly apple tree had to be removed from my old orchard I decided to transplant the two small PawPaws close together where the apple tree had stood.  Incidentally this apple tree was purchased from a big box store to replace an apple tree which had previously failed.  So either there is a problem with the soil in this specific Read more [...]

“spa treatment” for Red

Of the 6 chickens inherited from my neighbor, Red has always been my favorite.  On one occasion I borrowed them to assist in the new vegetable area.  5 huddled in the furthest corner, Red came up to where I was forking up the soil and she focused on each upturning and snatched any worms or grubs that were unearthed.  I was told she was rescued from a commercial operation and that was why her beak was snipped - to minimize damage amongst stressed confined birds.  The bigger birds respected her Read more [...]